Need Alaska fishing advice

Ticks N Tines

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I'm trying to plan a trip for next year. There will be two in our party and we want to do it all. We plan to stay for a week and i'm trying to find a good deal and a good guide. We would like to fish for Kings, Halibut, Sockeye, and possibly other salmon and trophy trout if we have time. We need lodging and fishing accomodations for a week. I have friends in Soldatna that I could possibly stay with if need be.
I have been looking at "Hooky Charters" (Family friend recommendation), but I have also seen mixed reviews about this charter.

Can anybody refer me to any charters and websites I can look at? I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Matt
 
Matt, if you have until next year spend some time on this site. Check out the saltwater forum and the freshwater forum.

http://outdoorsdirectory.com/

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/

Timing is everything.

If you want kings and sockeyes on the kenai peninsula, I would recommend the last two weeks of July. Halibut will be available then too.

I can personally recommend this place. They have a lodge right on the Kenai River in Soldatna. You can catch sockeyes from their back porch. They are excellent fishermen for all the salmon and trout. Very dependable and rock solid. They have connections with good halibut guides too.

http://www.earlyfishing.com/index.html

Eel
 
Went with Hooky charters for King's on the Kenai a couple of years ago and it was a total bust. Four fishermen and not even one strike. The thing that upset me the most was when we got back and the guide told us that it was a terrible time of year to fish for Kings and we should have not expected much. Wrong answer. Why not tell us beforehand? I won't go back with them again that is for sure.
 
A group of us went in July '08 and I haven't been the same since. I would love to be able to do it again. We went the second week of July with "Gone Fishin' Lodge" out of Soldotna. We did it all and had a great time. I think that they are a little spendier that others but, it was worth every dime to me.
Nine of us went and all of us brought home over 150 lbs. of fish. My dad caught a 142 lb. halibut and a 50 lb. ling cod on the same trip out of Seward. I got sick as hell so didn't fish much on the ocean run but, if I remember correctly we all limited on halibut.
The flyout was cool for a first timer but, a little commercialized. I would do it again thought just for the scenery - amazing.
The reds didn't start running the Kenai really good until our trip was almost over so we didn't have a whole lot of action there but we wore out our arms trying for them.
We did an upper Kenai float for rainbows. Too early for the monsters but we still caught a couple of good ones and I caught an awesome humpbacked, hooked jaw red.
The highlight of the trip for me was our King charter. We boated 3, between 42 and 51 pounds, our first trip out. The only fish I really cared about catching on the entire trip was a 60 lb. king. The 60 pounder eluded me but, the 42 pounder was amazing. Fishing for Kings reminds me of mule deer hunting - lots of waiting and hoping a big buck shows and when the action starts it is instant adrenaline and an experience you will never forget.
If you want more information PM me and I would be glad to tell you whatever I can.
 
There are quite a few options when it comes to AK fishing. Obviously timing is everything when it comes to catching particular fish (especially salmon). Each area in AK has different timings for each species of salmon. Rivers are more sensative because a particular species of salmon may not be in a river until a certain time of year vs will be in the ocean until they run up rivers....and halibut/bass/ling are always in the ocean.

Most of the above posts are for fishing out of a lodge from the ocean/coast. If you want to fish halibut, ling cod, sea bass, plus salmon...a lodge off the coast somewhere will offer you the best multi-species option. You may likely be trolling or possibly jigging for most of these species with fairly hefty gear. You may see lots of marine life, eagles, glaciers on these trips which add to the great fishing.

There are many inland lodges along rivers/lakes that offer a totally difference scenerio. Timing is more critical on these trips but there are often trout, grayling, northerns, char, etc available depending upon the location. Most of these lodging you must fly into..some have their own planes that can fly you to different rivers/lakes each day. Some have river boats for following the runs of salmon up and down rivers. If your preference is sight fishing and using fly rods these may be your best option. Believe me, there is nothing like catching 5 to 40 lb salmon on a flyrod until your arms drop! Be prepared for giant bears..and other wildlife!

A lot depends upon what kind of experience you are interested in. I have been on several self-guided float fishing trips as well as trips off the coast...each was unique and incredible!
 
LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-10 AT 10:16PM (MST)[p]For the best chance at hooking up on some Kings hit the Deshka
river June 15th.. You won't be hooking up on any 60-80 + pound hogs like on the Kenai, but you will catch some kings, damn sure can't say that for the Kenai..
Most Deshka Kings are between 20-40 pounds,, if you fish the mouth you will have a great chance to hook up on some50-60 pounders that are heading farther North like up to the Talketna that are just stopping in for a breather and to clean the silt out of their gills. If you don't have a boat up there, you will have to hire a guide to get you there.
As far as the Reds your best shot at them will be the Kenai/Russian river, I would suggest getting a camping spot on the Russian so you can have the best of both worlds.
No doubt the Kenai is a combat zone but there are a few ways to beat the crowds. One way is to wait untill after 11:00 pm then head down to fish all night,90% of the folks fishing will catch the last ferry back acrossed the Kenai at 11:00pm so the fish will move back in closer to shore and you will have plenty of room and time to play em..
If theres good numbers moving up the Russian either fish at night or just walk up the river spotting fish and try to hook em up..
Lots to know about on them Reds you can have thousands of em right in front of you and if you don't know what your doing you wont catch a single one. They ain't biting at nothing you got to floss em..
If you want to know more pm me i have been on all 3 rivers many times..Deshka king..
4658100_0094.jpg

Russian river Reds..
35352004_reds,halibut,kings_121.jpg
 
The Kenai Penninsula is way commercialized. But if you want a king over 40, the Kenai is the place. It also offers ocean fishing out of homer, deep creek, seward. You can usually get your best deals there.

If you dont care about the ocean fishing but want to catch lots of smaller kings and sockeye, then I would look at the Alaskan Penninsula on the Naknek, Nushigak, or Kvichack rivers. you can also go hit some of the rivers in Katmai National Park for monster rainbows. These trips are going to cost a little more.

Seward is my favorite ocean fishing. The silvers can be a riot, lots of ling cod, good fishing for yellow eyes and black rockfish, and our group always catches our biggest halibut there. If you want a chance at a big butt--take a trip out of Seward to Montague Island. Its like a 3 hour--70 mile run, but it has some big fish. If you book a full day "captains platter" trip--you get to catch it all, or you can just target whatever species you want.
 
Does anyone in your party apply to any one of these:
Active duty (AD) military personnel and families (includes
AD Reserve Components (RC))

1)Members of the Reserve Components and families (includes
Selected and Ready Reserves; National Guard,
Delayed Entry/Delay Training recruits; reservists on annual
training)

2)Cadets of military and Coast Guard academies (USMA
cadets have lst priority at USMA)

3)AD members of the Coast Guard, Commissioned Corps
of the Public Health Services, and Commissioned Corps
of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and
families.

4)Retired military (AD and RC) personnel and families
(with or without pay)

5)Veterans with 100% service-connected disability,
honorably discharged

6)Involuntarily separated military personnel under Transition
Assistance Management Program; and military personnel
separated under Voluntary Separation Incentive
and Special Separation Benefit programs for two years
after separation

7)Medal of Honor recipients

8)Unremarried surviving spouses (and families) of military
personnel who died while on AD or in retired status

9)Unremarried former spouses (and other family members)
who were married to the military member for at least 20
years while the military member was on AD

10)Orphans of military members, when not adopted by new
parents, under 21 years old (or over if not capable of
supporting themselves, or 23 years old if they are in fulltime
study)

11)U.S. DOD APF/NAF employees (includes AAFES) and
families stationed outside the U.S.

12)U.S. DOD APF/NAF civilian employees and retired civilian
employees and families in the U.S.

13)Local national or host country DOD civilian employees
and families at the discretion of the overseas commander,
provided space is available and subject to host country
agreements

14)U.S. Federal employees when assigned in areas outside
the U.S.

15)Medical personnel under contract to the Army during periods
they are residing on the installation

16)Military personnel of foreign nations and their families
when on orders from the U.S. Armed Forces, or in overseas
areas when MACOM commander grants privileges
in the best interest of the U.S.

17)Paid members of the American Red Cross, Young Men?s
Christian Association, United Service Organization, and
other type I private organizations identified in DoDI
1000.15 when assigned to U.S. Armed Forces outside
the U.S.

18)U.S. employees of firms under contract to DOD working
on the installation, assigned outside the U.S.

19)Individuals who have distinguished themselves in direct
association with or in support of the Army (may include
foreign nationals overseas)

20)Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets when paticpating
in field training

21)Former POWs and spouses of POWs and service members
missing in action

22)DOD contractor employees or technical representatives,
employees of military banking facilities and credit unions,
working full time on the installation concerned

If so you can go to the Seward Resort. Website is www.sewardresort.com
Hope this helps. Did this a couple of summers back, great time, was able to go to different places since seward is sorta centrally located. About 90 minutes north to Anchorage, 4 hours south to Homer.
WVBOWAK
 
I know for the most part, everyone wants to go fish for kings, sockeye, and halibut. You really should consider fishing for silvers. They run later (aug to sept) but you can, and most likely will, catch 3 silvers a day. Fun fish to catch, too. They will be 9-18 lbs, but put up a heck of a fight. Obviously nothing like hookin into a 50 lb king, but the last 3 years has been very slow for the kings. Day rates for a guide are cheaper when fishing for silvers, so for me its more bang for my buck. You can also catch the tail end of halibut season thru august and into sept. What you probably need to do is go fish for kings one year, and go back and hook some silvers the next. Then decide what you liked the best. For me, its silvers all the way
 
I would recommend Rw's Fishing.com out of Soldotna. He has a sweet lodge with 1000 ft. of private bank fishing for his customers. They do Halibut trips, two Salmon trips a day also flyouts. I went and stayed with them in 2006 and 2007 and would go every year if i had the coin. He has booths at most sportsmen shows with specials or you could stay at you friends and just come for the river boat trips if you don't want to lodge there.We would fish our salmon trip in the morning and then come home and eat then go hit the river from out in front of our room. Hope you have a good trip. Pinks run about 1 million on even years which is fun to catch lots of fish. I went in late August one year and June on 2007. Cheers Ryan
 
My friend went on a fishing trip in Alaska 2 years ago. They had a friend who guided them for 10 days. He said to bring as much misquito spray as you can carry.

Good luck!!!
 
I go every year if you need help pm me. i have great guys that can help you with everything.
 
Is there a Good time to fish when there are no mosquitos? Can't Stand the buggers
 

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